Yoonmee's Food Journal

I know there are enough food blogs out there already but I have developed my own version of healthy eating habits which are not limited to Vegan, Vegetarian or Paleo and I'd like to share what I've learned over the years with people who share the same interest.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

*Home Made Super Easy Peanut Sauce*

2 Tbs Peanut Butter (Chunky or Smooth)

2 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger Powder

1 tsp Maple Syrup

1 tsp Sriracha or your choice of hot sauce

Juice of 1 Lime

Water as needed to thin the sauce

Mix all the ingredients well and you got your super easy peanut sauce!!

*Food Babe’s Tahini Dressing modified*

1/2 cup Water

5 Tbs Raw Sesame Seeds 

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 garlic

1 tsp Maple Syrup or Honey

1 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tsp ground Cumin

1/4 tsp Salt

Put all the ingredients in a blender and Blend for a few minutes.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Mushroom Wellington with Spinach and Potatoes

3 medium potatoes thinly sliced or 1 baking potato

3 cups of mixed mushrooms

3 cups of spinach

1 cup of diced onion

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry sheet thawed

salt/ papper

olive oil

-Preheat oven to 375F while you lay out the sliced potatoes on baking sheet in single layer. Brush them with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Bake potato slices for 15-20 minutes until soft. Put aside.

-Heat olive oil in a large pan and fry garlic and onion for 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 min.  Add spinach and cook for another 5min.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

-Roll out the thawed puff pastry sheet to be about 11″x15″. Put potato slices down in the middle 1/3 of the puff pastry sheet leaving about 1″ of room at the top and bottom. Top the potato layer with mushroom mixture, put another layer of potato slices and top it again with spinach mixture. Finish the layers with potato slices.  

-Fold over sides of puff pastry toward the middle covering the filling. Secure the top and bottom edges. Carefully turn the whole thing over so the seam is at the bottom and put it on a shallow baking sheet. Poke a few hole with knife so steam can escape during baking. Brush the top with egg white or olive oil.

-Bake at 375F for 35~45 minutes.  

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Super Easy Dinner Rolls

1 1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

2 Table spoon Yeast (I used instant)

1/3 cup oil (I use olive oil)

1 tsp salt

1egg

3 1/2 cup flour

1 Table spoon of butter for brushing

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl. Add in oil, salt, and egg and mix well before add the flour. Mix all with wooden spoon. Once it’s combined well enough you can hand kneed it until the dough is nice and smooth for about 2-3 minutes. Use some extra flour if the dough is too sticky.  Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each one to a ball with hands. You can place them in a greased baking pan of any shape.  I used the round pie dish here. Cover them with plastic wrap and let rise for 15-20 minutes.  Bake in preheated oven at 375F for 20 minutes.  Once it’s out of the oven brush the top with melted butter

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Apple Pie Recipe

 You’ll need  1 pie crust to make the pie if you want to use Streusel Topping instead of pie crust top.

 Pie Filling

·      2 ½ pounds apples (5-6 large)

·      ¾ cup sugar (I use Coconut Palm Sugar for baking and love the caramel flavor)

·      2-3 tablespoon of flour

·      1 tablespoon lemon juice

·      ½ tsp cinnamon

·      ¼ tsp salt

Peel, core, slice apples ¼” thin.  Combine in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Let stand for 15 minutes stirring several times.

Pour the filling into the bottom crust and gently pack it into the crust. Make streusel topping.

 Streusel Topping

·      1/3cup sugar (Brown Sugar works good.  Coconut Palm Sugar tends to burn when I put it on top)

·      2 Tablespoon flour (Almond Flour Works good if you have some but regular flour works fine)

·      2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Blend these ingredients until crumbly and add

·      ½ tsp cinnamon

·      ¼ cup of chopped nuts

Pour the topping over the pie and bake in preheated oven at 425 for 30 minutes and slip a baking sheet under the pie, reduce the oven temp to be 350 and bake for another 30-40 minutes until the filling starts to bubble through.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Potatoes and Pea Curry with Garam Masala

2 large potatoes chopped to 1″ pieces

1 small yellow onion finely chopped

1 can of chopped tomatoes with juice

1 cup green peas, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup water

2 TBS of coconut oil

2 tsp grated ginger

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1~2 tsp red chili pepper

1 tsp garam masala

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt to taste

Heat 1 Tbs of oil in a deep frying pan and fry the potatoes until golden brown. Remove and set aside.  Heat remaining 1 Tbs of oil in the same frying pan and add cumin seeds, ground coriander, chili powder, turmeric.  Quickly stir and fry lightly to bring out the flavors of the apices.  Add onion, ginger and garlic to the pan. Add the tomatoes and water.  Bring to a boil and add the peas and potatoes.  Add half of the cilantro and salt.  Stir well and cook for 10 minutes covered. Check the doneness of the potatoes and then add the rest of cilantro and garam masala.  See hot over brown rice or with nan bread.  Enjoy!

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Pesto Hummus

1 can of Garbanzo Beans drained and rinsed

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup pesto of your choice

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove garlic

Add all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  Add water or olive oil to thin it if needed. You could garnish with chopped up tomatoes or cucumbers if you want.  Enjoy!!

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

BrownRice/Quinoa Middle Eastern Summer Salad

3 cups Cooked Grain of your choice_couscous, quinoa, pasta, rice, beans, lentils etc.

1 English cucumber chopped

1 Bell pepper chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

1 sweet apple such as Gala chopped

2 ribs celery chopped

2 small carrots or 1 large grated

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup cilantro chopped

2 green onions thinly sliced

Dressing

1/3 cup lime juice_ about 2 limes

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground all spice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Whisk the dressing ingredients in a separate smaller bowl and pour over the salad.  Toss to coat evenly.  Let stand for 30 minutes in room temperature before serving.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Vegan Cheese Sauce

2 medium potatoes

1 large carrot

1 medium onion

½ cup raw cashew nuts

2 TBS nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Boil potatoes, carrot and onion for about 10 minutes until they are tender.  Reserve 1 ½ cup of the water from the pot and drain the veggies.

Place veggies and the rest of the ingredients along with the reserved water in a blender and blend away.

Salt and pepper to taste.  at this point you can add any spice of your choice like paprika or turmeric etc to spice it up!

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Almond Bars

4 large eggs

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup coconut oil (if you want the bar to be richer, add more oil and less milk)

2 tsp almond extract

1/2 ~3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped almonds ( I didn’t use it for this batch but i think it’ll be nice to have some almonds in there)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, coconut oil, almond extract and coconut palm sugar ( I used hand held mixer to whisk).

In a small bowl combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt and baking soda.

Mix dry ingredients into the wet with hand mixer.

Stir in 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and half of shredded coconut in the batter. If you are using the nuts, mix them in at this time as well.

Transfer the batter into the greased 8x8 pan and sprinkle with rest of chocolate chips and shredded coconut on top.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Cool for 1 hour before slicing.  Enjoy!!

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Vegan Coconut Oil Drop Biscuits

2 cups flour (you can try it with gluten free flour if you want but I haven’t had a good luck with it )

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

½ cup coconut oil

1 TBS maple syrup or honey

1 cup milk of your choice ( I use coconut milk and it works great)

Preheat oven at 425F.  Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.  Cut in coconut oil till you have a nice crumb like texture. Coconut oil should be in a solid state.  If your coconut oil is in a liquid state pop it in the refrigerator to firm up. Next add syrup and milk to the bowl.  Mix well with a spoon.  The dough will  be sticky and wet.  Drop 8 blobs of dough onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 12~15 minutes until the top gets golden brown.  Here in high dessert, CO it takes more like 20 minutes to cook :)

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Rockfish Baked in Puttanesca Sauce

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/4 cup dry wine (traditionally white wine is preferred but I used red)

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed (thyme works well too)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 14oz can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives chopped

1 TBS drained capers

pinch of salt and pepper

4 about 6oz rockfish fillets

1 cup bread crumbs ( I used panko)

olive oil

-Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat cast iron pan with olive oil and place on medium heat. When the pan is hot add onion, garlic and wine.  Cook for 5 minutes to soften the onion.  Add rosemary, paper flakes, tomatoes, olives, capers, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Place the fish in a single layer in a baking dish, and spoon the sauce all over the fish.  Top it with bread crumbs.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Broil it for 3 minutes if you want the top to brown. Test the fish for doneness.  Serve with roasted veggies if you want.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Creamy Cauliflower Mushroom Riisotto

1/4 coconut oil or (mixture of butter and olive oil)

8 oz Mushrooms chopped

1 cup onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 head of Cauliflower

1/4 cup White Wine

1/2 cup vegetable broth

4 Tbs Coconut Milk or (heavy cream)

Salt, Pepper, 2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast or (grated Parmesan Cheese)

parsley optional

-In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic. Saute until mushrooms are tender.  Season with salt and pepper.

-Reduce the heat to medium low, add cauliflower and toss to coat in oil.  Add white wine and cook until the liquid had evaporated. Add broth a few Tbs at a time stirring frequently and letting it evaporate each time.

-When cauliflower is becoming tender, add a little more broth and the milk or cream.  Cover with a lid and continue to cook until tender.  Add a little more broth or milk as needed.

-Stir in nutritional yeast or parmesan cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Warm Mediterranean Potato Salad

4-5 Large Red-Skinned potatoes

1/2 cup diced fennel or celery ( I used 2 stalks of celery) 

One 6oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts, undrained

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips with 2 TBS of its oil

1/4 cup of Kalamata olives chopped

handful of basil leave chopped

2 TBS pinenuts roasted

2-3 TBS of lemon juice

salt and pepper

Scrub and dice the potatoes and steam them until done but still firm.  Put the rest of the ingredients except basil, pine nuts and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir the potatoes in the bowl and mix well.  Mix in the basil and the pine nuts. Then season with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Serve at once. I served it over bed of greens with drizzle of my favorite balsamic vinegar! This gets better the next day.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chickpea Squash Stew with Green Tahini Sauce

1 onion chopped

3 cloves garlic thinly sliced

1 butternut squash ( I used kabocha, any winter squash will do) cored, peeled and cubed

1 red bell pepper cored and cubed

3/4 cup red lentils washed

1 15oz can of chickpeas

1 tsp ground ginger or 1 TBS of fresh grated ginger

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups vegetable broth

Put all the ingredients in a crockpot and mix well.  Cook on High setting for 4~5 hours or on low for 7~8 hours.  Serve hot on quinoa with greens.  Green Tahini Sauce is optional.  Recipe follows

Green Tahini Sauce/ Dressing

1/2 cup raw Tahini (sesame paste)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 TBS lemon Juice

1 cup cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup purified water

put all the ingredients in a blender and blend away!  It goes well with any kind of mediterranean dish or greens.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Healthy and Simple Granola with Dried Cranberries

-3 cups rolled oats

-2 cups chopped walnuts or any nuts of your choice

-3/4 cup of unsweetened dried shredded coconut

-1 Tbs Vanilla

-1/4 cup coconut oil melted

-1/3 cup maple syrup

-3/4 tsp sea salt or Himalayan Pink Salt (my favorite)

-2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (I used mix of cinnamon & Chinese 5 spice)

-3/4 cup dried cranberries (I used unsweetened but sweetened is fine too)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Mix oats, coconut, nuts in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and pumpkin spice.  Mix coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla until well combined.  Pour the oil mixture to the dry ingredient and mix well.  Spread the mixture on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.  Mix in the dried fruit and store in air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Fried Green Tomato Fritters

3 1/2 cup green tomatoes chopped

1 yellow onion chopped

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 Tbs parsley

1 egg or egg substitute

1 1/3 cup self rising flour ( if using regular flour add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp salt)

oil for frying

-Place tomatoes, onion, garlic and parsley in a large bowl. Mix in the egg and ten sifted flour mix.  Stir well until completely combined. Leave it in room temp for 20 minutes.

-In a large deep cast iron pan or a non-stick pan heat 1″ oil until hot.  Place tablespoon measure of mixture carefully into the oil.  Fry until gold brown and flip to cook the other side.  Drain on paper towel.

-Serve immediately with plain yogurt or ranch dressing.  ENJOY!!

[yoonmeesfoodjournal]

Zucchini Onion Pie

3 eggs or egg substitute for vegan.

1 cup grated parmesan cheese ( I only used 1/4 cup since I’m lactose intolerant but it turned out delicious) or vegan cheese/nutritional yeast for vegan

1/2 cup Olive oil

1 Tbs chopped fresh Parsley or 1 tsp of dried parsley

1 clove garlic chopped

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of pepper

3 cups sliced zucchini

1 cup biscuit baking mix (I used 1 cup of gluten free flour +1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt)

1 small onion finely chopped

In a large bowl whisk the first 7 ingredients.  Stir in the zucchini, baking mix and onion. Pour into a greased 9-in deep dish pie plate.  Bake in preheated oven at 375F for 30~40 minutes ( I live on 3000ft high so you’ll have to adjust the temp and cooking time for your area. I’d start with 350F/30min for the sea level)  Check it toward the end and make sure the top is golden brown and test the doneness with a knife)